The MACHON and LE POIDEVIN families came from the Channel Islands.

Elizabeth Susan Machon (nee Le Poidevin) owned and ran a furniture business, her sister Anstice Le Poidevin Ran a corner shop in Cornet Street, St Peter Port Guernsey, it was given to the National trust when she died and it is now the Trusts HQ on the Island. It is open to the Public and is described as: “26 Cornet Street is probably the earliest remaining complete building within the Town's medieval boundaries. The National Trust of Guernsey has restored this exquisite 18th century house as a Victorian shop and parlour. Enter into a bygone age where sweets come from jars and are measured in pounds and ounces. A great attraction is the Heritage Seeds. These are very popular, as they are old type vegetable seeds and cottage garden. Also, on sale, are a selection of gifts, souvenirs and confectionery. The parlour and working gaslights with their fragile mantles are also memories of a bygone age. (www.thisisguernsey.com)

The shop owned by the Le Poidevin family was in use well into the 1930s. The business had thrived during the second half of the 19th century as Cornet Street in those days was a prosperous middle class district and the Le Poidevins were typical of the residents of that time. Mrs Le Poidevin was a stalwart member of St Barnabas Church (opposite and currently being refurbished) and it was a mark of the esteem in which she was held that when she died in 1927 the church, which by then was not in regular use, was opened especially for her funeral. When the Shop is open at Christrnas we have two ladies who are descended from the Le Poidevin family come in as volunteers, and often have customers who have childhood memories of the Shop. The central photograph over the mantlepiece in the Parlour shows the Le Poidevin family in 1902. The Victorian Parlour has the range as its focal point and it would have been used for cooking and heating. Lighting was by oil lamps and later by gas when this was piped to Cornet Street at the beginning of the 20th century. The three gas lamps come into their own at Christmas opening!.
(www.nationaltrust-gsy.org.gg)

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